Cult Classics: Urban Decay NAKED Palette

Some cult classics carve out their own special place in cosmetics history and in our makeup bags – others have a much bigger impact. They’re trendsetters around which the makeup world seems to revolve. One such icon is Urban Decay’s original NAKED eyeshadow palette, which sparked a neutral makeup movement. NAKED proved that neutrals don’t have to be boring. Now, nearly every makeup brand has at least one eyeshadow palette bearing some iteration of a nude, naked, natural or neutral label.

*more pictures and swatches at the bottom*

The Product

Everyone wants to look good naked and Urban Decay promises you’ll look great NAKED. This slim palette contains twelve neutral eyeshadows ranging from light and shimmery to matte and nude, and even a few deep, smoldering shades. Housed within the palette, originally, was a double-ended 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil; however, if you purchase this palette today, it will instead come with a Good Karma Eyeshadow Brush. Also in the box is a travel size Original Eyeshadow Primer Potion.

The palette’s exterior has a soft, velvet-like finish in a deep chocolate brown color with NAKED emblazoned on the front in gold lettering, indicative of what’s inside. It’s deep enough to accommodate either the eyeshadow brush or eyeliner pencil and long enough to accommodate all twelve eyeshadow pans, but isn’t much bigger than that. The inside lid of the palette has a small mirror and the bottom is where the brush/pencil and neatly aligned eyeshadow pans are housed. There isn’t a place for the Eyeshadow Primer Potion to be stored with the palette, though it is itself travel-friendly.

Virgin is a light, shimmery, almost frosty ivory shade.

Sin is a shimmery, pinkish champagne shade.

Naked is a matte, cool-toned, light-medium beige shade.

Sidecar is a glittery, light-medium beige with a slight pink undertone.

Buck is a matte, warm-toned, medium brown shade.

Half Baked is a metallic-finish golden, copper shade.

Smog is a medium-dark, shimmery, metallic bronze color with a slight olive-green flash.

Darkhorse is a deep bronze-brown with an olive-green undertone and a bronze flash.

Toasted is a medium, cool, shimmery pink-brown shade.

Hustle is a deep, cool plum-brown shade with a satin shimmer finish.

Creep is a nearly black shade with a matte base and very fine silver shimmer.

Because I spend a lot of time on the road, it’s important for my makeup products to be travel-friendly; the NAKED palette’s slim exterior and compact housing for twelve shadows and a double-ended eyeliner are perfect. I’ve been traveling with it for years and I’ve never had a broken shadow.

I don’t like that the new NAKED palettes include just one eyeshadow brush instead of the double-ended eyeliner. The NAKED2 palette has a double-ended eyeshadow and crease brush, which is fantastic. If the original palette still included the eye pencil, between the two palettes, you’d have everything you need for an eye look except mascara. The single ended eyeshadow brush is redundant and kinda useless since you need other brushes to really put together a look anyway.

My only other complaint about NAKED is that it’s still being sold today with UD’s old formula, which is great, but the new formula is even better. The only two shadows that aren’t available as singles are Hustle and Creep, though Busted and Blackout are available as singles and they’re reasonably similar.

Before the release of NAKED, there were other eyeshadow palettes that focused on neutral and nude shadows; however, NAKED is truly a Cult Classic because it’s neutral without being boring and comes with amazing quality shadows in a great package. All of these shadows, yep, all of them, every one of ‘em, rock my socks. They’re wonderfully pigmented, have great wear time, easy blendability, and they’re easy to work with. Not all of us are pros when it comes to applying eyeshadow and with the Naked palette, you don’t have to be. You can easily combine just two or three shadows from the palette and get a great, effortless look. There are also enough mid-tone and deep shades to create smoky looks as well.

Although not all of the shadows in the palette are nude shades, they are all neutral, versatile, and easy to wear – there are also a few nudes mixed in for when you want a barely-there, no-makeup makeup look. I absolutely love this palette and all the shadows in it.

As far as individual shadows, Smog and Darkhorse definitely get the most unique awards. They’re not really like anything else I have in my collection and I love them for it. They’re complex and beautiful. These shadows really are those great shades that make it look like you put a ton of effort into your eye makeup.

Naked and Buck are both matte and I do love my matte shadows, but Naked takes the cake for me. I have fair skin so the lighter shade is more versatile for me and it’s more cool-toned. Sometimes Buck is a bit too warm for me.

Virgin is a great highlight shade. Again, I’m very fair skinned so it’s great to have a shadow that actually highlights. What is a highlighter for most of you melanin-blessed girls is often more of a bronzer for me.

While I really love several of the shades in the palette, Half Baked is my favorite. It’s… perfect. It’s shiny, shimmery, golden, glow-y, not too warm, not too cool perfection.

The Skinny

NAKED is awesome. It’s pretty much THE eyeshadow palette for everyday looks while still being able to handle special occasion and smoky looks. Originally the palette was $44, but today it’s $50, which is still a great value. When I need to repurchase, I’ll also purchase the 24/7 Double Ended Glide On Eye Pencil in Whiskey and Zero for $12 to use with it instead of the eyeshadow brush that comes with it.

Do you own the original NAKED palette? Do you love it as much as all the hype? Let me know in the comments below!